Liberals would need to win 1 of 6 upcoming races to maintain control of the House. The countdown for half a dozen byelections is on as MPs who have signalled they won't be returning to Ottawa in the fall begin to vacate their seats. Six MPs say they intend to resign over the summer. While voters in those ridings wait...
The Conservative leader criticized woke indulgences and rejected efforts to divide Canadians based on race, gender, or other characteristics.
The premier’s office says a Ford Fest photo that appeared to have been edited to make protesters look like supporters was the result of “routine” colour correcting. Officials offered the explanation Monday, after a photo posted online by a pair of Progressive Conservative MPPs over the weekend raised eyebrows for what appeared to be a digital alteration.
Several Ontario First Nations are set to become owners of a new nuclear reactor after striking a commercial partnership with the federal and provincial governments. Ottawa and Ontario are providing loan guarantees of $700 million to the seven Williams Treaties First Nations east of Toronto that will turn into equity for one of the four small modular reactors that are...
Promising to “unlock (Canada’s) full potential as an energy superpower,” the federal government unveiled its new Nuclear Energy Strategy on Monday. The 23-page strategy is structured around four pillars: enabling new builds, being a supplier and exporter of choice, expanding uranium production and nuclear fuel opportunities, and developing new nuclear innovations. The Liberal government signalled earlier this year that the...
The Liberals continue to lead the Nanos Ballot numbers at 43.5%, maintaining their lead over the Conservatives at 31.5%, with other parties trailing. Economic concerns, jobs, inflation and the cost of living remain the most prominent issues of national concern, alongside housing and Trump/US relations.
The latest Weekly Federal Tracker from Liaison Strategies shows the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, returning to an 11-point lead over Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, a margin they last held in late May. Among decided and leaning voters, the Liberals stand at 43%, followed by the Conservatives at 32%, the NDP at 14%, and the Bloc Québécois at...
Donald Trump must enjoy what has now become diplomatic protocol for dealing with him on the world stage — namely, flattery and deference. Mark Carney caught on to it early, calling Trump a “transformational president” during his first White House sit-down with him more than a year ago.
British prime ministers have for the past 65 years had their public image satirized in Private Eye magazine, an often-unflattering pastiche that generally finds its way into the mainstream culture. From the outset of his time in No. 10 Downing Street, Keir Starmer — who on Monday announced plans to resign — was portrayed as a dull, indecisive, overly cautious...
Montreal police (SPVM) say one officer is dead and another is in critical condition following a shooting in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. Shortly before 1:45 p.m., the SPVM confirmed that one of the officers was killed. A civilian also died in the altercation, and the suspect was killed. Officers were called to the scene at 11:35 a.m. at the corner of...
Industry Minister Melanie Joly said she has made it clear to four Chinese electric vehicle makers that getting more access to the Canadian market will require them to “build where you sell.” But as she courts Chinese EV manufacturers to build another lifeline for the domestic auto industry as it buckles under the uncertainty of the CUSMA review, Japanese auto...
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon’s recent acknowledgment that new legislation may be needed to accelerate approvals for major projects is an admission of long-standing failure. Canada’s regulatory system for infrastructure and resource development has become slow, uncertain, and politicized. While Ottawa now speaks of one or two year approval windows and continues expanding entities like the Major Projects Office, deeper...
Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty was just one seat shy of securing a third majority mandate when he led his party to win the 2011 Ontario election. It wasn’t a great result – the Liberals won 18 fewer seats than they had the previous election – but it was still a win, and Mr. McGuinty’s approval rating was a respectable (for...
British Columbia is Canada’s third-largest province. It has the country’s fourth-largest economy. And right now, it might be the single most overlooked and underappreciated member of Confederation. Alberta’s willingness to indulge a separatist temper tantrum is consuming most of the attention that’s not already dedicated to dealing with Donald Trump, and it has already elicited a number of policy concessions...
On this date in 2013, much of Calgary's downtown was underwater from the greatest flood ever to hit southern Alberta. City hall, with provincial help, worked furiously to make the Calgary Stampede happen. A slimmed-down version opened on schedule. It was a stunning feat of united action by governments and the Stampede, then led by CEO Vern Kimball.
Crackle! Sizzle! Roar! Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas is on fire. "A permit is not a free pass to keep people awake for 11 nights because someone powerful demands it. "Rick, you spoke up for years. You were told to call 311. You were told to wait while people with money, access and powerful friends expected city hall to look the other way.
The Cannabis Council of Canada has announced it is suspending its advocacy operation, apparently because its member companies have given up hope that the federal government is prepared to listen to them. In a letter to Finance Minister François Philippe Champagne that foreshadowed this week's announcement, outgoing council president Paul McCarthy said the country's licensed cannabis producers have lost confidence...
Mark Carney knows how to work a room. Twenty years of top-level international summitry as a finance mandarin, central banker and prime minister have honed that skill. More important: Carney knows how to read a room. In Davos earlier this year, attendees wanted to hear some sort of plan to contain U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating insanity. So the prime...
No prime minister has the luxury of being able to worry about a single problem. But among Mark Carney’s many problems, one looms particularly large: managing Canada’s relationship with the United States and its president. And Carney faces a difficult question on that file: How flattering to Donald Trump can he dare to be? We saw some examples recently of...
Many Canadians fervently hope that the next midterm elections will return the United States to a state of political normalcy. But there is simply too much money, too much fear, and too much potential for political retribution embedded in the system to expect a rapid correction.
A referendum is looming in Alberta, which will reveal this fall how far the province is ready to go toward the independence option. For the rest of Canada, a big question revolves around how much are we willing to do to keep Alberta in the federation. Some new polling by Abacus Data may offer some insights into that question and...
As the Carney government wraps up the parliamentary sitting this week, political watchers may be forgiven for thinking they’ve entered a time warp. Opposition MPs — Conservatives prominently among them — stood in the House of Commons, sounding the alarm over Liberal attempts to shut down debate, halt committee studies, block witnesses and stop amendments. The government’s moves were an...
The memorandum of understanding Donald Trump cobbled together with Iran’s leadership may seem far removed from Canada’s negotiations over the future of CUSMA. However, the Iran deal, hastily concluded under intense economic pressure, offers three clear lessons for Ottawa: know your leverage, understand what truly frightens Trump, and resist the urge to fold too early. On paper, Iran and Canada...
The House of Commons adjourned its spring sitting on Thursday after Liberals used their recently acquired majority to push some bills through with unanimous consent. The Pulse Panel weighs in.
Mark Carney says Donald Trump’s peace deal with Iran is a “game changer.” If that game is Risk, then the U.S. president just rolled snake eyes, announced he didn’t want to play anymore and began eating some of the plastic soldiers. I remain perplexed as to why our prime minister continues to commend a war that has always been an...
You know things are getting a bit desperate when a politician starts cutting $100 “affordability” cheques to buy back a bit of political goodwill. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s decision to pass on a slice of the province's recent gas tax windfall directly to residents smacks of a payoff, and a paltry one at that.
They were the kind of words a parent might say to convince a child scrunching his nose at his birthday present that it’s really what he wanted: “I thought you’d actually like that.” In this case, the Prime Minister of Canada was speaking to the President of the United States. Mark Carney was trying to convince Donald Trump that a...
Prime Minister Mark Carney apparently has a patience problem. According to the Toronto Star’s Althia Raj, sources within the party complain that he raises his voice (or he yells, depending on the receiver) and openly shows his displeasure when caucus discussions veer into what he considers political navel-gazing. To career politicians accustomed to consensus-building, this behaviour feels abrasive. It is...
Well, we now know how many Dani Dollars Albertans are getting. Albertans 18 and older who've filed their taxes and have a household income of $225,000 a year or less will score a tax-free $100. Just so you know, the Alberta government considers a household to be a single person or two people who are married or in a common-law...
US President Donald Trump may have finally found a way out of the war he started with Iran. No, it doesn’t come close to regime change, which was one of the Trump administration’s initial justifications for the war. There isn’t even a return of political prisoners, constraints on the country’s proxy forces in the Middle East or an end to...
The anti-Trump view of world affairs, dictated this week by the Iranian mullahs, will hold that U.S. President Donald Trump has surrendered. It is worth remembering that when Hamas invaded Israel and massacred 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 others on Oct. 7, 2023, Iran was well on its way toward developing nuclear weapons, hoped that the Hamas invasion of...
One of the downsides of being prime minister is that the job doesn’t come with much vacation. Mark Carney will likely be relieved to see the House of Commons adjourn for the summer in the coming days, but he will be heading into vacation season with several storm clouds on the horizon.
The reviews have not been kind. “A disaster.” A “catastrophe.” The “worst strategic blunder the U.S. has made post-World War II.” Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion and trenchant geopolitical observer, perhaps said it best: “Trump said he demanded unconditional surrender, we just didn’t know he meant America’s.” What they are describing, of course, is the Trump-Iran “deal,” or...
There are many things the Carney government needs to achieve its economic ambitions: global allies, foreign direct investment, intergovernmental collaboration and a skilled labour force.
A trustee at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is quitting the organization’s board over an upcoming exhibit about the late 1940s displacement of Palestinians, saying its lack of vital historical context will stir up hostility against Jewish people. Mark Berlin submitted his resignation on Monday in a letter addressed to Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, and...
Supreme Court of Canada nominee Glenn Joyal describes himself as a "candid and constructive spokesperson" for Manitoba's highest trial court and the judiciary. Prime Minister Mark Carney has tapped Joyal, chief justice of the Court of King's Bench of Manitoba since 2011, to fill the vacancy on the country's top court left by the retiring Sheilah Martin.
The federal government wants another high-speed rail stop — making the would-be line less speedy. On Monday, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon directed Alto to consider an additional stop in Kingston, Ont., in what would be a potential major change to the project — a move that drew swift criticism from opponents and raised questions about planning and costs. Coming on...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is saying goodbye to his British counterpart after the two met repeatedly to discuss a shared vision for western countries. Conceding that he had lost the support of the party membership, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday he will resign once his Labour Party chooses a new leader. "Throughout, and in the face of exceptional...
Statistics Canada says high gas prices pushed the annual rate of inflation to 3.2 per cent in May. That’s up from 2.8 per cent in April and marks the first time annual inflation has topped three per cent since late 2023. The agency says gas prices rose for the third consecutive month in May thanks to the Middle East war...
The federal government will consider adding a stop in Kingston, Ont., to the Alto high-speed rail project, opting to pursue a southern route that bypasses the Highway 7 corridor, the Star has learned. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon will be in Kingston on Monday morning, when he will make the announcement and release the government’s consultation report that summarizes thousands of...
The federal government wants to dramatically scale up the use of nuclear power and the export of Canadian-owned reactor technology through a new strategy that sets a goal of increasing by more than 50 per cent the number of large-scale reactors in Canada. In a policy document to be released on Monday by Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, and obtained by...
Excluding ministers' records from access legislation is 'offensive,' expert says. Premier Doug Ford's daily calendar will now be kept secret from the public, CBC News has confirmed, following recent changes to Ontario's freedom of information law — which no longer includes access to records held by ministers and their offices.
Manitoba's Chief Justice Glenn Joyal has been nominated to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court of Canada. Prime Minister Mark Carney says Joyal has demonstrated the integrity, experience and judgment required of the Supreme Court.
Washington is signalling growing impatience with Ottawa’s delays on its F-35 purchase and broader defence reset. Article content U.S. defence officials applauded Canada’s 2022 selection of Lockheed Martin’s stealth fighter, and the plan to buy 88 of the U.S.-made jets, but political debate and shifting priorities have left only 30 under contract so far.
The Toronto seat is expected to be vacated by Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith in coming weeks. A face familiar to many on Parliament Hill is launching a bid to return — this time, as an MP. Claire Seaborn, a Bay street lawyer and former chief of staff to Trudeau-era minister Jonathan Wilkinson, intends to seek the Liberal nomination in the...
New limit was quietly introduced, surprising therapists and clients alike. When the federal government introduced supplemental health copayments for asylum seekers and refugee claimants earlier this spring, it also quietly brought in a 10-hour yearly cap on mental health sessions for them, CBC News has learned. Mental health practitioners have been lobbying for a reversal since, with limited success.
While Liberal MPs tried to squeeze one more study into the schedule, Conservatives held firm that they should continue reviewing the terminated federally-funded e-prescribing program. Conservative health critic Dan Mazier says it’s important because ‘$300-million has gone into nowhere.’
Canada and Australia have agreed on terms to allow Ottawa to buy components of the Arctic over-the-horizon radar system from BAE Systems Australia. Stephen Fuhr, Canada's secretary of state for defence procurement, was in Canberra on Sunday to make the announcement with Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles. Canada has committed to spend more than $6 billion developing the new radar...
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday he is stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party and will leave office within weeks, forced out by his own party scarcely two years after being elected in a landslide. Starmer says he will remain caretaker prime minister until the party chooses a new Labour leader -- with expectations growing that...
A quarter of federal Conservative voters in Alberta want the province to leave Canada. Between Jun 7-12th Spark interviewed 777 adults across Alberta. Here’s what we found:
On the world stage, Canada's prime minister is a statesman. In Ottawa, he is a ward boss. MONTREAL, QUEBEC — Mark Carney arrived at the Liberal Party convention in April ready to play the hits that had carried him through a triumphant year in office. “Hope isn’t a plan, and nostalgia isn’t a strategy,” he said in his keynote address...
Welcome to Mind Your Business! Consider this your weekly guide to understanding what’s happening in the worlds of economics, business and finance.
Governments intend to convert units into affordable housing via new partnership. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is slamming a plan by the federal and B.C. governments to buy vacant condo units in the province and turn them into affordable housing — a move he describes as a "bailout" that should be immediately cancelled. "Where is your bailout?" Poilievre told reporters in...
Members of Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government posted what appear to be edited photos of the crowd from Ford Fest near the main stage, where hundreds of OPSEU workers protested against the premier on Friday. On Saturday, Attorney General Doug Downey and MPP David Smith’s X accounts posted several pictures from the annual free barbecue celebrating “Ford Nation” — including...
Alberta premier says 'fun police have struck again in Calgary.' Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas is firing back at online criticism over the city's recent bylaw changes that will reduce noise for weeknight concerts during the upcoming Calgary Stampede. On Saturday, Premier Danielle Smith posted on X that it "looks like the fun police have struck again in Calgary, this time...
A record-setting number of Canadian executives are in Tokyo this week to participate in what has become the largest Team Canada trade mission in the Indo-Pacific region. Nearly 300 people representing 175 Canadian companies will gather at the Sheraton Miyako hotel in downtown Tokyo to network with Japanese executives. The Canadians have one goal in mind: to forge partnerships in...
Former Alberta premier and early ‘remain’ supporter Jason Kenney is a “powerful” voice in his ability to reach conservatives on the topic of Alberta separation, say party strategists, while the effectiveness of Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, another prominent anti-secession voice, is drawing mixed reactions. “I think there’s a lot of nuance in both Jason Kenney and Wab Kinew, and the...
Ten years ago this week, the United Kingdom voted to quit the European Union, setting off years of political turmoil and economic pain that persist to this day. Richard Barfield was working at consulting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers around the time of the Brexit referendum, advising financial services clients on risk and regulatory matters. He considered himself "reasonably well-informed," but even he...
From a massive ad blitz featuring Canadian broadcast icon Peter Mansbridge to a cabinet minister calling on shipbuilders to cough up a car plant, the brief race to replace Canada's aging submarine fleet turned heads in more ways than one. The unusually short competition to build the navy's next submarine fleet seemed to focus on everything but the boats themselves...
On tariff impact, political response and more, Alberta became an outlier. Several factors have triggered concern in some corners of the country about the role the United States may play in Alberta’s upcoming referendum on separation. They range from a Trump cabinet secretary’s remarks, to administration meetings with separatists, to the spectre of U.S.-based foreign influence campaigns. But what if...
Experts say Canadians should expect more generative AI in political advertising. The Conservative Party of Canada released a political ad on June 5 that featured AI-generated footage, an advertising tactic experts expect to see more of as political campaigns around the world embrace the technology. The video depicts people lining up at food banks, losing their jobs and having their...
Rideau Hall changed guidelines to say what can and cannot be expensed. Rideau Hall changed its clothing guidelines during Governor General Louise Arbour's transition to office to explicitly state that the King's representative to Canada cannot bill taxpayers for casual outfits or business attire. The guidelines now say governors general can only be reimbursed for "distinct wardrobe requirements" needed to...
Premier Danielle Smith says natural gas will be key to Alberta’s ambitions of becoming Canada’s artificial intelligence hub, but experts and residents say the strategy raises questions about emissions, electricity demand and how large-scale developments could affect communities. At the New North America Summit this week, Smith said natural gas will be critical to powering the enormous electricity needs of...
Government House leader Steven MacKinnon is defending the prime minister’s commitment to parliamentary procedure, as Conservatives highlight Mark Carney’s lack of attendance during question period in the House of Commons this year. On Tuesday, Conservative MPs held a press conference on Parliament Hill to present a cake marking Carney’s 100 missed question periods. According to the Conservatives, of the 10...
Longtime conservative commentator Tucker Carlson said on a podcast that "there's no chance I would support the Republican Party" ahead of the November midterm elections, dismissing the political affiliation he's defended as a pundit for decades, including as one of Fox News Channel's most popular hosts.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan died Monday from complications of Parkinson's disease, said his wife of 29 years, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell. He was 100.
Vice President JD Vance said Monday peace talks with Iran created a "good foundation for a successful final deal" to end the war that began at the end of February.
Many Canadians fervently hope that the next midterm elections will return the United States to a state of political normalcy. But there is simply too much money, too much fear, and too much potential for political retribution embedded in the system to expect a rapid correction.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is saying goodbye to his British counterpart after the two met repeatedly to discuss a shared vision for western countries. Conceding that he had lost the support of the party membership, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday he will resign once his Labour Party chooses a new leader. "Throughout, and in the face of exceptional...
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday he is stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party and will leave office within weeks, forced out by his own party scarcely two years after being elected in a landslide. Starmer says he will remain caretaker prime minister until the party chooses a new Labour leader -- with expectations growing that...
U.S. and Iranian negotiators headed to a Swiss venue Saturday for talks on adding key details to their interim agreement to halt the war, hours after Tehran said it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and warned that little might be achieved if the fighting doesn’t stop. U.S. President Donald Trump, in response, threatened to...
Talks between the U.S. and Iran were called off Friday after intense fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, officials said, raising questions about an initial agreement to end the war in Iran.
Keeping a nuclear weapon out of Iran's hands is 'why this all started,' says Carney. Prime Minister Mark Carney is again praising the new U.S.-Iran peace deal after calling the war "worth it" — if it ensures Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Carney said keeping a nuclear weapon out of Iran's hands was...
Canada’s impact assessment process is structurally fragmented. A new AI-enabled Sovereign Impact Assessment Agent (SIAA) would speed up assessments and save money by using the federal government’s extensive but fragmented troves of data on Canadian land, water, wildlife and atmosphere to pre-populate assessment applications, identify information gaps and help inform regulators’ final decisions.
On June 12th, the American artificial intelligence company Anthropic —maker of the Claude AI assistant— issued an extraordinary statement, whose opening paragraph reads as follows: “The US government, citing national security authorities, has issued an export control directive to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States, including...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s own department, the Privy Council Office (PCO), has become the bad boy of freedom of information in Canada.
Secrecy surrounding cabinet documents is so absolute in Canada that critics look to theology and astrophysics for metaphors to describe it. Federal cabinet records in Canada are treated as “sacred artefacts to be shrouded in mystery for decades, hidden in a black hole beyond the contemplation of judges, commissioners, or citizens.”
In 2007, Roger Martin, then dean of the Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto, wrote a book called The Opposable Mind. It argued that the most successful leaders tend to be “integrative thinkers,” by which he meant they tackled problems holistically rather than breaking them down into component parts. Instead of seeking trade-offs, they are at ease with...
Mondays with Dr. Janice Stein are always a learning experience, and it sure has been since the end of February, with the war in Iran. And in spite of alleged "peace deals," we're still wondering if the conflict will ever end. It's complicated and that's why Dr. Stein is with us again this week.
This episode is about exploring Canadian conservative political thought, the state of conservatism and the state of the Conservative parties in Canada today, and whether the Conservative Party of Canada can build a big tent winning coalition.
In this season finale of The Arctic Edge, host Hannah Thibedeau travels to the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, 125 kilometres southwest of Cambridge Bay, as Agnico Eagle announces a US$2.4 billion investment in the next phase of development for its Hope Bay project. What she finds is a compelling example of sustained northern investment. Projects like Hope Bay can serve...
The G7 was built for a different world, but this year’s gathering showed it’s far from dead yet. Fifty years on, it still tries to manage the biggest global risks: China, Ukraine, Iran, AI, critical minerals and “the boss” in the room, Donald Trump. Is the summit still a serious tool of global governance — or just simply an opportunity...
